Today, VSBA staff began the week attending the 7 a.m. meeting of House Education Subcommittee #2. Bills of interest to the Association were:
SB 343 (Peake)
– This bill would prohibit any school board from
employing any individual who has been convicted of any felony offense against a
child; a certain act of violence or violent felony; any offense involving the
sexual molestation, physical or sexual abuse, or rape of a child; or any
offense requiring registration with the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors
Register Act. The bill would provide that for any other felony offense, the
school board, in its discretion, may hire an individual who has had his civil
rights restored by the Governor and at least five years have passed since such
conviction. The subcommittee adopted an amendment in the nature
of a substitute conforming the bill to HB 1000 (Gilbert) and recommended the
bill for reporting (7-0).
SB 605
(Ebbin) – This bill would require the Board
of Education to adopt regulations to implement the provisions of federal
law that prohibit any local school board or any individual who is an employee,
contractor, or agent of a local school board from assisting an employee,
contractor, or agent of such local school board in obtaining a new job if such
local school board or individual knows or has probable cause to believe that
the employee, contractor, or agent engaged in sexual misconduct regarding a
minor or student in violation of law. The subcommittee adopted an amendment
in the nature of a substitute clarifying the implementation of the bill. The
subcommittee recommend reporting the bill as amended (7-0).
SB 747
(Sturtevant) – This bill would provide
that the guaranteed admissions agreements between baccalaureate public
institutions of higher education and associate-degree-granting public
institutions of higher education may provide for the guaranteed admission of a
student who earns an associate degree concurrently with a high school diploma
through a dual enrollment program, as well as any student who earns an
associate degree after high school. The subcommittee recommended reporting the
bill (7-0).
SB 785
(Surovell) – This bill would prohibit local school boards from requiring the use of
any electronic textbook in any course in grades six through 12 unless the
school board adopts a plan to ensure that on or before July 1, 2020,
(i) each student enrolled in such course will have actual access at school and,
if any assignment requires the use of such electronic textbook outside of
school hours, in his residence to at least one personal computing device not
shared with another student that contains an operating system and the hardware
necessary to support the format of each electronic textbook expected to be used
in such course and (ii) the relevant school has adequate connectivity, which
the bill defines as bandwidth of at least one megabit per second per enrolled
student. The
subcommittee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute changing the
adequate connectivity speed required to 256 Kilobytes. VSBA spoke in opposition
to the bill. The subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting (7-0).
Following the adjournment of the Subcommittee VSBA staff attended the full meeting of House Education as well as House Finance. Bills of interest in House Education included:
SB 169
(Stanley) – This bill would require any
nonprofit corporation founded in 1913 that currently organizes and governs
interscholastic activities among the public high schools to establish, by
July 1, 2021, a varsity level robotics team competition program that includes
state championships. The committee failed to report the bill (7-11).
SB 229
(Hanger) – This bill would require the Board
of Education to establish a training program for school board employees
who assist in the transportation of students on school buses, including
individuals employed to operate school buses and school bus aides, on autism
spectrum disorders, including the characteristics of autism spectrum disorders,
strategies for interacting with students with autism spectrum disorders, and
collaboration with other employees who assist in the transportation of students
on school buses. The bill would require each school board employee who assists
in the transportation of students with autism spectrum disorders on school
buses to participate in such training program. The committee reported and
referred the bill to House Appropriations (18-0).
SB 273
(Petersen) – This bill would authorize local
school boards to include and requires the Board of Education to accept, for
elementary school, unstructured recreational time that is designed to develop
teamwork, social skills, and overall physical fitness in any calculation of
total instructional time or teaching hours. The committee adopted an amendment
in the nature of a substitute conforming the bill to HB 1419 (Delaney). The
committee reported the bill as amended (17-0).
SB 401
(Lewis) – This bill would direct the Department of
Environmental Quality and the Department of Education to update the
"Window into a Green Virginia" curriculum developed by the
Departments for sixth grade science to include a unit on the benefits,
including the energy benefits, of recycling and reuse. The committee reported
and referred the bill to House Appropriations (18-0).
SB 664
(McPike) – This bill would require the
Board of Education, in its graduation requirements, to permit local school
divisions to waive the requirement for students to receive 140 clock hours of
instruction after the student has completed the course curriculum and relevant
Standards of Learning end-of-course assessment, or Board-approved substitute,
provided that such student subsequently receives instruction, coursework, or
study toward an industry certification approved by the local school board. The committee
reported the bill (16-1).
In House Finance, one bill of interest discussed was:
SB 172
(Stanley) – This bill would expand the Education Improvement Scholarships
tax credits program by including, as eligible scholarship recipients, children
enrolled in or attending nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs. The maximum
annual scholarship that a child admitted to, enrolled in, or attending a
nonpublic pre-kindergarten program will receive is the lesser of the child's
actual educational expenses or the state share of the grant per child under the
Virginia Preschool Initiative for the locality in which the child resides. Under
current law, tax credits are awarded to individuals and businesses making
donations to nonprofit scholarship foundations using the donated funds to award
scholarships to certain students in grades K-12 attending nonpublic schools.
Eligible scholarship recipients are students in grades K-12 with a finalized
individualized education program (IEP) in place or whose annual household
income is not in excess of 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. The
bill would define an eligible pre-kindergarten child and a nonpublic
pre-kindergarten program and includes several other curriculum and
administrative requirements that must be met by a nonpublic pre-kindergarten
program in order for children attending the program to be eligible to receive
scholarships under the tax credit program. Under the bill, VCPE or the Virginia
Early Childhood Foundation will certify nonpublic pre-kindergarten programs
meeting such curriculum and administrative requirements. The bill would also
reduce the penalty for failure to fully disburse all donations received from
200 percent of the difference between 90 percent of the value of the donations
it received and the amount disbursed to 100 percent of the difference. This
bill incorporates SB 553. VSBA spoke in opposition to
the bill. The committee failed to report the bill (9-11).
Following this, VSBA staff attended House Courts of Justice Subcommittee #1. The following bill of interest was discussed:
SB 476
(Reeves) – This bill would provide that school principals are not required
to report criminal misdemeanors or status offenses to law enforcement if in the
principal's discretion, based on a totality of the circumstances and consistent
with Board of Education guidelines, such report is not warranted. The bill would
require the Board of Education, in consultation with the Department of Juvenile
Justice, the Office of the Attorney General, and any interested stakeholders,
to update its Student Conduct Policy Guidelines to provide guidance for
principals in exercising such discretion. VSBA supports this bill. The subcommittee recommended carrying the bill over to 2019 on a voice vote.
Lastly, VSBA staff attended the meeting of House Education Subcommittee #1. Bills of interest to VSBA discussed included:
SB 76 (Favola)
– This bill would specify that for the purpose
of Board of Education regulations for the approval of teacher education
programs, the term "education preparation program" includes four-year
bachelor's degree programs in teacher education. VSBA spoke in support
of this bill. The subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting (7-0).
SB 170
(Stanley) – This bill would prohibit, except
for drug offenses, firearm offenses, and certain criminal
acts, students in preschool through grade three from being suspended for
more than three school days or expelled from attendance at school unless
(i) the offense involves physical harm or credible threat of physical harm to
others or (ii) the local school board or the division superintendent or his
designee finds that aggravating circumstances exist, as defined by the
Department of Education. VSBA worked with the patron and other stakeholders to
modify the language to allow more flexibility for local school divisions and
supports the bill. The subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting (7-0).
SB 238 (De
Steph) – This bill would prohibit local
school boards from requiring a student or his parent to disclose information
related to the student's race or ethnicity unless (i) the student or his
parent is given an option to designate "other" for the student's race
or ethnicity or (ii) such disclosure is required by federal law. The
subcommittee recommended the bill for reporting (7-0).
SB 349
(Peake) – This bill would make several
changes to the teacher licensure process, including (i) permitting teachers
with a valid out-of-state license, with full credentials and without
deficiencies, to receive licensure by reciprocity without passing additional
licensing assessments and (ii) permitting a local school board or division
superintendent to waive certain licensure requirements for any
individual who holds a provisional license and is employed by the local school
board. This bill incorporates SB 257, SB 409, SB 548, SB 549, SB 551, SB 558,SB 723, and SB 863. VSBA supports this bill. An
amendment in the nature of the substitute was adopted by the subcommittee. VSBA
spoke in support of the bill. The subcommittee recommended reporting the bill as
amended (7-0).
SB 969
(Newman) – This bill would require the Board
of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to require
students to earn one verified credit in history and social science by (i) the
successful completion of a Board-developed end-of-course Standards of Learning
assessment; (ii) achievement of a passing score on a Board-approved
standardized test administered on a statewide, multistate, or international
basis that measures content that incorporates or exceeds the Standards of
Learning content in the course for which the verified credit is given; or (iii)
achievement of criteria for the receipt of a locally awarded verified credit
from the local school board in accordance with criteria established in Board
guidelines when the student has not passed a corresponding Standards of
Learning assessment. The bill would prohibit such end-of-course Standards of
Learning assessment from being a performance-based assessment.
The subcommittee adopted an amendment in the nature of a substitute. The
subcommittee recommended reporting and referring the bill as amended to House
Appropriations (5-2).
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